In A First, West Bengal Donates Organs To Other States; Gives Lease Of Live To Three

For the first time in the state's organ donation mission, West Bengal (WB) has donated a heart to another state on March 23, which was brought to Chennai for transplant.

A 24-year-old youth identified as Kumaresh Sadhu had an accident on Monday, March 21, while riding his motorcycle in Ashok Nagar, North 24 Parganas district of WB. Sadhu sustained a severe head injury and was brought to Apollo Multispecialty Hospital after two other hospitals were unsuccessful in reviving him. In the evening, the doctors declared him brain dead and began counselling his family for organ donation, to which they agreed the next day, on Tuesday.

Sadhu's multiple organs, including his liver and kidney, were also transplanted. One of the recipients for a liver transplant at Apollo was flown into the city from Jaipur, Rajasthan, while the other recipient for a kidney transplant was a 62-year-old resident from Kolkata, West Bengal.

Sadhu's elder brother, Samaresh, said, "We find solace in the fact that my brother's organ will save three lives," quoted The Times of India.

Search For Matching Recipients

After the doctors at Apollo declared Sadhu brain dead, Regional Organ & Tissue Transplant Organization (ROTTO) began searching for matching recipients in the region.

According to doctors, all Sadhu's organs were in good shape, but he had only one kidney. ROTTO managed to find a matching kidney recipient in the city but couldn't find one for the liver and the heart. Following this, the information was shared with National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) to meet the exact match.

ROTTO joint director Arpita Ray Chaudury said, "The donor belonged to the relatively rare AB-positive blood group. Despite Kolkata having a heart transplant facility at seven hospitals, we could not find any matching recipients due to low enlistment," as per the publication.

Organ Transplant

MGM Hospital in Chennai, which had a matching 25-year-old male patient accepted Sadhu's heart. A team from Chennai went to Kolkata via air, retrieved the organ and flew back to the city on Wednesday afternoon.

Even though ROTTO offered the liver to Apollo, the hospital had no matching recipients. Then the hospital contacted other liver transplant facilities in other cities and concluded on the recipient from Jaipur. The patient travelled to Kolkata on Tuesday night.

Director of the Institute of Gastro Sciences at Apollo, Mahesh Goenka, said, "The patient's family got ready to fly into Kolkata. So instead of sending the organ to another city, we decided to conduct the transplant surgery in our hospital itself. Thanks to ROTTO and NOTTO for this organised effort to ensure all organs are put into use," noted the report.

Also Read: Lifeline! Brain-Dead Kidney Recipient Gives New Lease Of Life To Four